Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Clear Enemy of Humanity
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Early dawn. In a residential neighborhood so quiet that even the sound of dew dripping from everywhere felt deafening...
People moved without making a single noise.
Sss...
They slipped through the darkness like a night breeze, leaving not even the faintest presence behind. Circling an old, rundown house as if laying siege to it, they began exchanging hand signals.
Three people inside the house, matches the report.
One of the targets appears to be an unrelated civilian girl.
The top priority target is...
That was the moment when the hands of these busy, silent figures—government agents—froze in place.
"The top priority target is...? I'm curious, so go on, continue♥"
How long had he been standing there? A middle-aged man in a pitch-black suit from head to toe smiled brightly as he spoke.
Click...!
The six agents scattered around drew their guns from their holsters in unison.
"What the—!"
"Shh—I hate noise."
But in the blink of an eye, the guns in their hands turned into single black-dyed roses.
"Oh, right."
Snap...! With the snap of his fingers, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over them. The agents stared hazily at the man before them—Bell.
"Tell Aruel that I appreciate all her help over the years."
Those were the last words they heard from Bell, grinning playfully as if saying they'd have more fun clashing head-on in the future... And then they slept soundly on the ground until the police, alerted by a resident out for a morning stroll, shook them awake.
"......"
When they finally woke up at the station and rushed back to the site in a panic, all they saw was a ghostly mansion that looked like no one had lived there in ages—ramshackle and on the verge of collapse.
Ah— this is exhausting.
"Ugh...!"
From the crack of dawn, I'd been grunting and helping with an unplanned move, setting down whatever heavy thing I was carrying... Only to mutter in disbelief all over again.
"I thought these days you call a moving company and they handle everything, even furniture placement. Why are we lugging this stuff around?"
"Ha-yul, you like working, so she said there's no need to call them."
I turned at the voice and looked back.
"...Who are you?"
How to put it. I vaguely remembered her from before, but her usual image was so intense that I'd forgotten... There she was, exuding the vibe of a prim librarian, slyly only picking up light items and shuffling along like the world's most fragile creature—Seon-ah.
"......"
The house owner, Bell, had vanished without a trace at some point, but this woman sometimes made me want to smack her so bad I had to force a slow smile as I spoke.
"Seon-ah."
"Yeah? What's up, my cute little Ha-yul?"
"Right now, I'm holding your precious computer tower."
"......"
"In three seconds, I'm gonna 'accidentally' drop it."
She was usually so tiny and fragile it drove me nuts, but that had its perks. Like how I could shut down any excuses about "being a girl and not strong enough" right from the start.
"Hup...!"
Just like that, the frailty from moments ago vanished like a lie. Seon-ah, in her long skirt, effortlessly hoisted two boxes each too heavy to carry with both arms—one in each hand.
"Slacker one more time, and next it'll be the beer in the fridge that disappears."
"Yes, sir...!"
My stuff was barely anything, so why was there so much junk to move? Unable to hold back my curiosity, I ripped open a nearby box.
"......?"
I had to doubt my own eyes. Because crammed inside were... swimsuits, dresses, bunny girl outfits, maid costumes. And all sorts of other garments I couldn't even guess the purpose of.
"Oops, you saw it."
"Bell...?"
"I was tired and took a quick nap, and in the meantime, you go snooping through my stuff. Naughty boy, Miss Ha-yul."
Right after, Bell appeared soundlessly behind me, grinning lecherously.
"......"
I glanced back and forth between the box full of clothes and him for a moment.
"...It's fine. These things happen."
"Huh?"
"Pretend I didn't see this."
Feeling a pang of pity, I stood on tiptoes and patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"Excuse me? Miss Ha-yul?"
"It's okay. I get it."
"No, wait a sec..."
It was gross just imagining it, but I wasn't one to discriminate. Y'know, that saying about how crossdressing is the manliest thing a guy can do.
"Suits you. Just... don't show me. Got it?"
No way he'd prepared those to dress me up in them. Haha.
A little while later.
There were a few minor hiccups here and there, but thankfully not too much stuff to move... We finished just as the sun set and night fell. Dodged that bullet.
"Y'know, on moving day, you gotta have jjajangmyeon."
"We had that yesterday. What, frozen jjajangmyeon? Chicken it is."
"Ha-yul, you secretly love chicken. Pizza? Pizza?"
Exhausted, I sprawled across the living room sofa in our new, much bigger and fancier place like I owned it. Listening to the defeated losers flat on the floor debate dinner, it seemed menu selection was hitting a snag too.
Beep.
Anyway, the preliminary work was done, so I figured I'd chill with some TV while deciding. I hit the remote button.
—Breaking news. The Yeongdeungpo city center bombing led by Robelia not long ago. Everyone remembers, right?
The news channel came on immediately, dredging up the incident I'd thought was fading... And plastering a very familiar face huge on screen.
—We've identified the villain organization behind that very Robelia. Take a look now.
We—well, me and Seon-ah—sat up quietly. Staring at the clean-suited middle-aged man on TV.
"Whoa, no way. Who is that?"
"No kidding, Captain. Shave the beard clean and that's what you get? We gotta groom more. Looks way better."
His features weren't much different, but... how to say it. The overall vibe was night and day. With the scraggly beard neatly trimmed, Bell stared into the camera with such a chilling expression it was hard to believe it was the same guy.
"Anyway, who's that next to him? You know, Seon-ah?"
"Beats me... First time seeing him."
As we speculated about the suited young man standing with Bell on screen, suddenly...
"...Sigh. Guess you're bringing it up. Fine."
Bell, who'd been ignoring our chatter completely until now...
"Yes? What was that, you two?"
Let out a faint sigh, then finally looked at us with a puzzled expression.
"That guy pictured with you. Who is he?"
I asked Bell, who unusually radiated a gloomy aura. He gave a wry smile and answered.
"That's... our—the first captain of Crown Theater Troupe."
Crown's inaugural captain. Meaning Crown wasn't an organization Bell founded.
"Anyway, we'll talk about that later when there's time."
He seemed to hate discussing it—sweat beading on his forehead as he blatantly changed the subject. I exchanged a glance with Seon-ah, who'd been watching him intently, and nodded.
"Whatever."
"Captain. Hungry. Pizza, buy pizza."
Better to dig into it separately later than press here.
"Ugh... No helping it. I'll cover it specially today."
I unlocked his phone, which he'd been fiddling with, and tossed it to me with a reluctant flick. Seon-ah and I ordered pizza with his money.
—Crown Theater Troupe was an organization annihilated by Magical Girl Aruel about 20 years ago. The reason they've resurfaced after two decades is still unknown, but a Magical Girl Support Division official stated:
Didn't expect Aruel's name to pop up here... But considering how she'd lied that day I turned into a girl, like she was hiding something, I figured she had some connection to Bell.
—They are a clear enemy of humanity.
I pulled my eyes from Bell, who'd shrugged at us when Aruel's name dropped, and quietly watched the TV continue.
—In addition, the Magical Girl Support Division has once again expressed deep regret over the Yeongdeungpo terror incident and issued a statement vowing to capture Robelia as soon as possible for the safety of citizens.
With Maymay taken out, and now this... Only one possibility came to mind.
"This is where it gets real."
"Yeah. Probably."
"Huh? What, what?"
Seon-ah, unable to follow our exchange, chimed in midway.
"Means the retired magical girls are about to move."
I slowly recalled the voice of a certain magical girl who'd once begged me, after retiring, to always be on her side.
"Magical girls who hunt villains, not demonic beasts."